An oil painting found yesterday at the Salvos here in Sydney. I was surprised to find out that it was indeed an original and not a print. I had no idea about the artist until I got home and had a look on the net. It looked European and the signature began with Paco so I was thinking Spain, etc. I lugged it up to the supermarket with my shopping trolley. No car. I did the shopping with it and met up with a dealer mate heading for the same store I'd just left. He liked it and so I headed home with the painting, three bags of groceries and the trolley full as well.
My partner was not as enthused as I with it!
I needed to find out more to justify my position. It reminded me of those modernist ceramic horses by Aldo Londi for Bitossi in Italy, Gus McLaren here in Australia. I liked the sgraffito work on the mane and the painting was loose, almost calligraphic. The look in the eyes! Those splashes of blue/grey!

The signature was Paco Gorospe or was it Garaspe? I went online and came up with lots os examples of the signature Paco Gorospe. It seems Paco was the nickname of Francisco Gorospe Sy ( 1939 - 2002), a Filipino artist from Manila. He was prolific and made his living by selling art inspired by personal experiences in Manila and in the southern areas of Visayas and Mindanao. Sometimes there were dates with the signature. There is no frame and no mention of a gallery on the rear of the canvas.

From 1961 until 1965 his paintings were patronized by Lyd Arguilla at the Philippine Art Gallery and sold in the United States. Paco´s works were chosen to represent the Philippines in 1962 at the Washington World Fair and in 1964 his painting were exhibited at the New York World Fair. From 1965 onwards, Paco had successful exhibitions in Bern, Switzerland and a one man show at the President’s Hotel in Hongkong. The Karilagan Finishing School also featured Paco´s paintings. In 1972 he hold an exhibition in Okinawa, Japan.
In 1974 after an interview with Paco, Gilbert Luis R. Centina III stated in his article Paco from the Ermita School: “His lines are impressionistic expressionist, representational. His colors are burst of green, orange, blue and brown, his signature is Paco, simply, but his name is Francisco Gorospe Sy - painter of brilliance - from the Ermita School.”
In 1989 he held his first exhibition in Baden-Baden, Germany sponsored by a German friend, and later as well in Denmark. In 1990 his paintings were exhibited yet again at the Expo in Yokohama, Japan.

Comments

vetraio50, 3 years agoThat may well be a problem! Not yet resolved ......

ozmarty, 3 years agoGreat confident bilod strokes .
Reminds me of a piece alady in US sent me a photo of in the days before digital cameras and most people had the net . it turned out to be a ceramic horse from on of the Picassoettes , William Newland. must see if I still have it.http://interpretingceramics.com/issue006/articles/02.htm

austrohungaro, 3 years agoPaco Gorospe is a totally Spanish name and, of course, can be a Philipino one as, just like Cuba, it was part of Spain until 1898 (they had the status of province, not colony). Althogh now they speak Tagalog and English (due to the strong American influence), Spanish is still spoken in one of the islands (what they call Chabacano... ), although Tagalog uses many Spanish words: all numbers, many expressions, family related words (those for uncle, aunt, mother...) and, of course, many names and surnames.

Gorospe is a Basque surname and many Basque migrated to both the Philippines and South America (in Argentina, for instance, having a Basque name is a sign of status). As for Paco... it's one of the short forms for Francisco (others are Curro, Patxi... it depends of the region, but please don't ask about how Paco, Curro or Patxi can develop from Francisco). Both my father and elder brother are called Paco.

AmberRose, 3 years agoWow V! Great story, I love the idea of you running around the grocery store with this. As someone who often comes home with goodies that the hubby doesn't like, I have a little advise. Win now and you will probably have to give it up the next time.
Basically: are you in love with this piece? If not, sell it, gift it, make someone else happy.
How big is it???

austrohungaro, 3 years agoSalvador, which is a very popular name in Valencia and Catalonia, does reffer directly to Jesus (Jesu, Salvator mundi). Salvador means Savior :) And yes, there are thousands of men called Jesús (or Salvador) in Spain ;)

Budek, 3 years agoBeautiful, noble and playful,.....I love it. I see how it would conjure thoughts of Londi-Bitossi. I think that a piece of music would describe it best, maybe one of the haunting or playful peices by Satie or something by Ravel.
have a great week-end K.

vetraio50, 3 years agoAnd you too, Tonino. Thanks too to musikchoo!
I'm reminded of Chinese calligraphic versions of wild horses.
In Chinatown in Manila there are horse drawn carts called 'kalesa'. There's something wild in those eyes and the movement of the front legs rearing up suggests pride, independence and confidence too. The horse is also the seventh in the cycle of the 12 year Chines horoscope. Just stringing a few ideas together.

vetraio50, 3 years agoMany thanks happytobehere somewhere out there and musikchootoo and Amber as well in Florida. Hope Debby has gone away!

kulektor, 3 years agoI love horses and I love this cabajo. Great find.